Lisa Banfield's lawyer praises commission report for calling out victim-blaming, RCMP exploitation

When Jessica Zita opened the Mass Casualty Commission's final report this week, she says she felt deeply moved by the focus on gender-based violence and specifically how her client Lisa Banfield has been mistreated.

"It's validating for her," said Zita. "It validates her experience and her feelings, which have been challenged and brought into question significantly the last three years."

Banfield was in an abusive relationship for two decades with Gabriel Wortman — the man responsible for killing 22 people in Nova Scotia on April 18-19, 2020. His shooting rampage started in Portapique with a violent attack on Banfield, who managed to escape in the woods near their home.

In the weeks and months that followed, an undercurrent of skepticism burbled across the province about Banfield's role that night and the fact she never reported his abuse.

The commissioners made a point in their final report to call out those critics.

"In our view, this powerful myth or stereotype led to the perception that Ms. Banfield had some level of responsibility for the mass casualty and contributed to the ensuing victim-blaming dynamic," the report said.

"She is in no way responsible for the perpetrator's actions but rather is a victim of his violent acts. She was not aware of what he was planning, nor is it reasonable to hold her responsible for the lack of reporting on his prior violent behaviours."

Banfield knew her spouse owned illegal guns and smuggled them across the U.S. border. She told the public inquiry last July she never went to police about the violence she endured because he held a gun to her head and threatened to hurt her family.

She testified that's exactly what she believed he intended when he couldn't find her the night of the rampage. 

In the final report, the commissioners stated that Banfield was not only a survivor of the mass casualty event — she was also a victim.

"I take that as almost a communication that Lisa should not be apologetic for being a victim and being a survivor and that's such a powerful statement," Zita said.

The commissioners declared their position on gender-based violence, stating "we believe this lesson to be the single most important one to be learned from this mass casualty."

They described it as an epidemic that, like the COVID-19 pandemic, warrants a "meaningful, whole of society response."

"It is alarming to know that some people responded to the early RCMP communications on the night of April 18, 2020, by thinking, 'It's a domestic situation.' The mistaken implication is that a 'domestic situation' is not one that sets off warning bells."